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Anthony Kuehn is the editor of the Detroit Lions blog Lions Gab. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. Get in touch with Anthony at lionsgab@gmail.com or on Twitter @lionsgab.

The Detroit Lions have come a long way since Jim Schwartz and Martin Mayhew took over after the Unspeakable Season. They have accumulated young talent, found a franchise quarterback and led the team to the playoffs. They accomplished so much in such a short time that many forgot that a step backwards could be possible.

Here they sit at 4-5 with more questions than answers heading into the most brutal stretch of any team in the NFL and the most important question is: “Where is the accountability?”

The Lions have an explosive offense paired with a better than expected defense, so why have they underachieved so mightily this season? The special teams cost the Lions dearly in two games, but don’t forget the offense’s inability to move the ball in the first half, too. Then there are the penalties, turnovers and miscommunications (like the faux QB sneak in Tennessee) that have contributed largely. But whenever I trace those issues back to their roots, I always end up with the same root cause: accountability.

The Lions had a rocky off-season after several players' run-ins with the law. These players (Nick Fairley, Mikel Leshoure, Aaron Berry, et al.) learned their lessons by .... getting in trouble again. On a team that understands accountability, players don’t make stupid mistakes over and over. Now that may not seem like it has any correlation to the football field, but if you cannot learn accountability in life or death scenarios like driving while impaired, how can you learn to be accountable for not jumping offsides or blowing an assignment?

I am in no way saying the offseason arrests are entirely to blame for this mess on the field. But they are just an example of the lack of accountability that plagues this team. Matthew Stafford’s mechanics have regressed this year and he’s struggling with accuracy and turnovers. When his mechanics get brought up by the coaching staff or Stafford, they blow it off by talking completion percentage or the benefits of having a strong enough arm to throw off his back foot. My favorite is the comparisons to Brett Favre. Now, obviously Favre had a great career and will go to the Hall of Fame, but he’s the NFL career leader in interceptions, had didn't have tremendous success in the playoffs and threw two game-ending picks in the separate NFC championship games. Stafford would benefit far more from hearing his coaches say he has things he needs to improve on rather than shrugging off his shortcomings.

This doesn’t all end with the players though. Special teams coordinator Danny Crossman was so predictable in his playcalling that opposing teams designed specific returns to take advantage and the Lions gave up four kick or punt return touchdowns in two games. Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan has not been able to devise a gameplan that the opponents aren’t prepared for, which has led to the Lions trailing at halftime in eight of their nine games by an average of almost a touchdown.

The building blocks of this team have almost all regressed on the field this year. Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Brandon Pettigrew, Titus Young, Ndamukong Suh, Cliff Avril and Stephen Tulloch have all seen a drop in performance. While other players being counted on to make a big step, like Nick Fairley, Amari Spievey, Willie Young, Lawrence Jackson and DeAndre Levy, have yet to do so.

The Lions aren’t completely out of the playoff hunt yet, but their problems are bigger than just this season. Players who aren't accountable to themselves can never be held accountable to each other or their coaches. Good teams don’t need accountability to thrive, they need it to survive.